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Woodside deemed an ‘Excellent’ school
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Woodside's third-grade teachers, who helped lead their 2010-2011 third-graders to excellent test scores on their Ohio Achievement Tests, celebrated their hard work on Sept. 7. Under a sign that reads "Excellence starts with you" are teachers Joya Villani (left), Nicole Wilson, Angie Carchedi, and Ann Billock.
By SARAH FOOR
Since school began at Woodside Elementary in August, staff and students have been in an excellent mood. The happy atmosphere around the school is thanks to the recent news that Woodside was graded an Excellent school on the state report card.
Only one year ago, Woodside was deemed a “School of Improvement” by the state. The 2010-2011 Ohio Achievement Tests showed that Woodside students increased its reading scores by 13.5 percent and math scores by 20.7 percent to earn a 87.6 and 95.1 percent performance, respectively. With their improvement, the school bypassed an “effective” school rating and reached “excellent.”
“We didn’t just have a home run – we had a grand slam,” shared Woodside principal Tim Kelty. “I absolutely attribute it to the bond and family atmosphere at Woodside. Our teachers, students, parents and community always offer a true investment and so much time and energy.”
Woodside third-grade teachers Joya Villani, Angie Carchedi, Ann Billock and Nicole Wilson stressed the importance of the Ohio Achievement Test to last year’s third-graders and said that the honor was due to a lot of hard work.
“I think our success came from letting the kids work on their own level. We targeted individual needs, provided reading and math workshops and made sure to take the stress out of test taking,” shared Villani.
“It was all about confidence. We had tons of meetings, rewards and encouragements. We told the third-graders that their peers, Mr. Kelty, and we were behind them 100 percent,” said Carchedi.
Leaving the 2010-2011 school year, Woodside knew they had done well, but receiving the official scores and excellent status was still a wonderful surprise.
“It was absolutely a shock – you couldn’t imagine the phone tree that sprouted when we heard the news. There was lots of screaming,” said Billock with a laugh.
“I think the most encouraging news is hearing how excited our students are this year. I’ve heard so many times already, ‘We’re going to do even better,’” added Wilson.